Meeting during Wartime (1943)
by Mav Phoenix
Summary: A Shinji/Asuka fic during WW2.
1. Default Chapter

Meeting during Wartime (1943)

The main problem with the EVA-Characters is, there are both women and men to include in a realistic scenario. Now there lays the main problem for you when you´re trying to weave a military background for your story. For this little story I decided on a pure Asuka/Shinji setting during WW2 in the USA. 

Asuka is a mechanic and test-pilot for North American Aviation, the producer of the legendary P-51 Mustang. She´s one of the many quality control people who check the newly manufactured warplanes a final time before they are declared combat ready.

Shinji is a Pilot of the 55th Fighting Group in Nuthampstead/England who´s main combat objective is to provide cover for the B-17 "Flying Fortress" and the B-24 "Liberators" of the 8th Air Force against the Me-109 and Fw-190 of the German Luftwaffe (Air Force). 

You may ask now 'When Asuka is in the States and Shinji is stationed in Europe, how can there be a romantic set-up?' Well it´s easy … even when it´s a little bit sad. Please don´t kill me when you find out the reason I mentioned, OK?

One more before we start with the story. The in the story used squadron names, designations, ship names, locations and names of historic persons are used to honour those who have served their country´s in the last great war. I may be German by birth, but I have the highest regard for every soldier who fought or died in WW2 regardless their individual home country. Those men stood up for what they thought was just and fair and should be never ever forgotten by the following generations. 

Dedicated to all those who died in their fight for peace and freedom all over the world, may the be Americans, Russians, Germans, French or whatsoever. Rest in peace with the thought that your sacrifices will never be forgotten as long as people remember those dark times of mankind.

**Prologue         -           First Contact**

Location: NAA P-51 Main Production Line, Los Angeles 

(NAA stands for **N**orth **A**merican **A**viation)

Asuka Langley had a wonderful day. Not only was it wonderful sunny and warm. No, the best on that day was her upcoming test-flight of the day. One of the two prototypes for the new D-Model of the P-51 Mustang was finally finished and she was the pilot of the day, so she would have the pleasure of spinning that new beauty through the sky. 

She was very proud of her position with NAA. Because of her heritage, half Japanese and half German, her family had to endure a lot of hardship and open hostility, but she simply refused to let that hinder her in her life. In 1940 she had finished her Pilot training and together with her licence she finished her mechanic education at NAA. Her performance was above all other trainees and even the CIA, who had checked her background more than a few times, couldn´t find a reason to block her further employment with NAA. Now, in 1943, she was the Pilot of choice whenever there was a problem with one of the new planes, because of her natural talent for flying and mechanics she was able to solve nearly every possibly problem. 

Walking in front of the production hall she approached her plane, which was currently checked up once more by a few mechanics, a small smile making her normally stunning features even more stunning. 

"Hey, Jeffrey! How´s my little baby doing this morning?"

"Morning Asuka. She´s ready to burn the sky whenever you wish." Replied Jeffrey. With his 47 years Jeffrey saw sometimes a daughter in the fiery young Pilot and seeing her with a smiling face like that made his heart fill with joy.

"Good to hear that. Say Jeffrey do you know what that memo means? I found it on my desk this morning and I can´t make much sense out of it."

Taking the memo in his hand Jeffrey read through the memo. He read:

Miss Langley,

We wish to inform you of the upcoming arrival of Lieutenant Shinji Ikari within the next five days.

Please prepare yourself for a demonstration of the new D-Model of the Mustang you are currently testing.

Sincerely yours

Dutch Kindelberger 

NAA - COE

"I don´t know Asuka. I´ve never heard of this Ikari before, but his name sounds Japanese, like your second last name Soryu."

"Yeah I noticed it to. That´s really strange you know. Well, let´s worry about that later, now I want to dance a little bit trough the sky with this beauty."

Location: 60 Miles Southeast of Los Angeles 

During the next 1 ¼ hour Asuka pressed her Mustang trough some daring manoeuvres which the plane executed willingly and with ease. Asuka was preparing her descent after she finished her test program when she saw a P-38 "Lightning" moving to her 3 o´clock position. Curious at what would happen next, she locked intently at the cockpit of the "Lightning" for any sings from the pilot. She wasn´t disappointed when he asked her with hand sings for her radio frequency. 

"Hello there buddy, so that's the new D-Mustang. Doesn´t look that impressive to me after all the fuss made about it."

"Yeah, what would someone knew about a good fighter who´s flying a museum like the P-38."

The radio had the nice effect that it masked the true gender of Asuka and so the foreign Pilot didn´t know that the other was a women.

"Museum he? Let´s see if you´re able to follow me."

"You´re on. Lead the way."

The next 30 minutes were truly interesting. The unknown Pilot in his P-38 was leading Asuka through some really hard manoeuvres, like a Cuban Eight, an Inverse Looping even a Tail-Slide. Especially the last manoeuvre, the Tail-Slide, made Asuka sweat in her cockpit. 

Explanation: Tail-Slide means, that you bring your plane in a 90° climb and reduce your power until the plane drops back over it´s tail. This manoeuvre is extremely dangerous, because the plane is almost uncontrollable in that phase of the manoeuvre.

'Ether he´s really dump or he´s combat experience with his plane. That manoeuvre was really something.' "Hey you Pilot. I´m tired and I have not much fuel left. Let´s call it a day and let me head back to my base so I can finish my reports in time."

"All right Mustang that´s fine with me. I follow you down to NAA, I´m ordered to report there … by the way, do you know the other Pilots of NAA?"

"Of course do I knew my colleagues at NAA. Why do you ask?" 

"Well … that´s better to talk face to face on the ground and with a nice cool beer in front of you, you´re on?"

"OK, follow me down."

The two warplanes were standing at their respective parking positions when Asuka noticed something under the canopy of the P-38. 'What are those marks under his cockpit? They look like … OH MY GOD!!! Those are kill marks, but … there at least a dozen marks, he´s an ace combat pilot.' Asuka thought in awe. Her respect for the unknown pilot went up several steps.

Climbing out of the cockpit, she handed her headgear to Jeffrey, who was looking curious at the female Pilot. "Asuka, who´s that "Lightning" you brought back?"

"I really don´t know Jeffrey. He appeared suddenly out of nowhere, challenged me for an aerobatics match and told me afterwards he´s ordered to report here. Otherwise I have no clue."

"Mmh, strange." Jeffrey mumbled.

"Something wrong Jeffrey?"

"I don't know Asuka, but have you taken a real lock at the "Lightning" of that pilot? Both tails are covered with repair patches and the gun muzzles are scorched black. That plane has seen a lot of action if you ask me."

"Well Jeffrey, let´s find out some more about that mysterious pilot."

Asuka reached the P-38 when the pilot was checking his starboard pylon for reasons only he knew. Stepping behind the men Asuka cleared her throat to get his attention. Moving from under the starboard tail of his plane the pilot turned to look at Asuka and Jeffrey. Asuka prided herself with her nerves of steel, but what she now saw made her gasp and take a step back. 

It was a young pilot, around 25/26 with a muscular built, but what shocked Asuka was his face. His whole right side was horrible burned. Just looking at him made Asuka wince in pain. 

The Pilot had a surprised look on his face, obviously he hadn´t expected a female Pilot to greet him. That look quickly changed into a sad one when he noticed the shocked look in the faces of the two persons in front of him.

"I´m sorry, but my face is what it is. Just say where I can find Mister Kindelberger and you wont have to look at me again." Even when his eyes where sad his stance told everyone he was a proud person, proud to be alive and able to make a difference where it counts.

Asuka was speechless (I know. Hell will freeze over before our Asuka is speechless, but hey come on. This is an AU-Story) and so Jeffrey took the initiative and answered the Pilot. "Please excuse our behaviour Sir. We are sorry if we have offended you, but …"

"It´s all right. I´m still learning to come accustomed with such reactions toward my appearance."

"May I ask …"

"You want to know what happened with my face?"

"I´m sorry but to be frankly, yes I would like to know what happened."

"Is that´s OK with the lady?" Asuka just nodded.

"Well my squadron and I, together with two other squadrons, were escorting a group of B-17 "Fortress" from the 306th BG(H) (**B**omb **G**roup, **H**eavy) to a target in France, when we were attacked by German 109´s. That wasn´t so bad, we had become accustomed with their attack stile. What made it bad was the fact that we were under continues attack for more that 1 ½ hours. We were all low on ammunition and fuel and were forced to turn around and head back to base, when we were ambushed from out of the sun. It was a swarm (a group of 4 planes) of those damned Fw-190´s, they danced through our formation as if we were sitting ducks. One of the Krauts made a pass on my wingman and I tried to disturb his line of fire, so that my wingman could make an escape. That Pilot was really good and now I was his chosen target, he hung on my six as if he was clued to my plane. We danced our deadly tango for about seven minutes in which I brought my "Lightning" near her tolerance border and well above said border. That damn Focke-Wulf was pumping my plane with bullets as if it was trying to make me appear like a Swiss cheese. One of the fire bursts hit my nose compartment and set my left over ammunition on fire. I was lucky that I had only a few shots left and a fire extinguisher for the gun compartment installed by the tech´s for the whole squadron two months ago that rescued my live together with my squad mates who busted that Kraut out of the sky. To my bad luck were there enough flames to ignite my flight-combo and that burned my upper right body half. After that fight I was barely able to fly back to my base in England and only the fact that my squad mates were flying the whole way with me in tight formation and keeping me awake the whole time by screaming over the radio enabled me to make a save return. That was five months ago, the last four were spend in hospitals in England, after that I returned to the States."

"Sir, please accept my apology and thanks for your trust by telling us this story." Jeffrey thanked the Pilot. "May I ask you for your name Sir? I´m chief mechanic Jeffrey Thomson."

"Of course Mr. Thomson. I´m Lieutenant Shinji Ikari from the 55th FG (**F**ighter **G**roup). It was nice to meet you. See you someday."

"Good luck and clear sky´s Lieutenant."

"Thank you Mr. Thomson, Ma´am." With that said Shinji left the pair standing beside his old "Lightning" and made his way toward the office building of NAA. 

Jeffrey followed the young Pilot with his eyes until he turned the hangar corner and vanished from his sight. He maybe had a soft spot for Asuka, but what had happened here made him angry, real angry.

"OK Asuka, what the hell happened here?" Asuka just stood there for several more seconds until she looked at him.

"Jeff … I don´t … I don´t really know what happened. I was …"

"Asuka, I see you sometimes as if you were my own daughter, but what you did right now was inexcusable. That young Pilot put his life in danger so that others could someday life a normal and peaceful life. For that ideal he was wounded and marked for the rest of his life and you looked at him as if he was something disgusting to look at."

"Jeffrey please I …"

"Don't "Jeffrey please" me Asuka. I´m truly disappointed in you young Lady. I know your life wasn´t always milk and honey, but you had the chance to pull yourself together and it brought you to where you am now, here at NAA as one of our best Pilots. That young man hasn´t that chance anymore. He has to live with the result of his decision to make a difference for the rest of his live."

"That´s not it Jeffrey!!!" Asuka yelled startling the older man. "It´s just … he looks like … I don´t know … he remembers me of someone special."

Now it was Jeffrey´s turn to be speechless. "Someone special Asuka? Our little princess had someone special once in her young life?" Jeffrey couldn´t withstand the sudden urge to teased his young protégée.

"JEFFREY! DON´T TEASE ME!" Asuka said trough clenched teeth´s. "When I had my final exams for my pilot license in 1940, my flight instructor was visited by a group of Air Force members. They wanted to take two of the schools "Stearmans" out for a spin. Just to relax from their own trials to become qualified combat Pilots and I think that Pilot was one of them. He had such a nice smile and such a gentle way to speak with you … I felt some kind of … well … connection with him."

"Asuka dear. I´m sorry that I snapped at you, but I´m so sick of such reactions toward returning soldiers who where injured during combat."

"Jeffrey, I don´t mind his injury. What really captured me then were his eyes, they where like a window to his soul and now …"

"Asuka what´s wrong?"

"They were so empty, like he lost that kind spirit I last saw in him. Oh Jeffrey, it´s so unfair. Why has such a good man to suffer so much? Why?" Asukas eyes had become wet during her talk, a sight that unnerved Jeffrey who had never seen Asuka displaying her emotions so openly. Gently he pulled the young women in his arms and tried his best to reassure her of herself again.

"Asuka dear, sometimes bad things happen, you know that better than most people. It´s than up to each person to make the best out of it and by the way that young Ikari was keeping himself upright I´m sure he had come to terms with it."

"Haven´t you heard what I said Jeffrey? His eyes lost what made him so special! That´s what shocked me so hard!"

"OK Asuka, I understand. Now breath in deeply a few times and calm down, all right? We still have to finish out paperwork for today and I want to go home today before my wife sends the MP to haul me back home."

"Come on Jeffrey. That wasn´t so bad, at least we had a reasonable excuse for working overtime then."

"Reasonable in your eyes Asuka, but not for my Catherine. She was ready to fry my the moment I stepped trough the door and only the fact that you were with me kept her at bay."

With that successful change of topic Jeffrey and Asuka made their way into their offices beside the hangar were a group of NAA technicians was busy checking the N.A.109 (NAA Internal designation for the two prototypes of the P-51D) for any damages caused by the latest test flight. 

Office of Dutch Kindelberger COE of NAA 

"Mr. Kindelberger?" came the voice of Jacqueline Carlson, the secretary trough the door. "The Lieutenant you were awaiting is here. Shall I send him in or are you currently busy?"

"It´s OK Jacqueline send him in." Replied Mr. Kindelberger. 'Well, let´s take a look at that liaison the Air Force had send to me.' Shinji stepped trough the door, but not before he thank Miss Carlson for her help. 'At least this one has some manners, not like the last they send. What a self absorbed bastard that was!' 

"Mr. Kindelberger, Lieutenant Shinji Ikari reporting as ordered." Shinji said and stood at attention in front of his desk.

"At ease Mr. Ikari, we´re not the military here, please have a seat."

"Thank you Sir. If you would excuse me Sir, but were you informed about my duty´s here? I have to admit that my orders were a bit vague in that point."

"Well Mr. Ikari a group of smart people from the Air Force decided some time ago that the experience from combat pilots should be included in the in development of the new fighter models and you were chosen to be one of them here at NAA for the new D model of our Mustang."

"But Sir, I´m a Lightning Pilot! I have not the necessary knowledge required for such a task!"

"Quite the opposite is true Mr. Ikari. You have everything we need to fulfil your role here with us."

"Please forgive me Sir, but I don´t see how I can me of use for your company."

"Than let me explain the idea behind that all. As a successful Lightning Pilot you knew about the advantages and disadvantages of the P-38 Lightning. Am I right?" 

"That´s correct Sir."

"We here at NAA now want to know what you think abilities a plane should have that could outperform your Lightning."

"Outperform the Lightning? That could be really difficult Sir."

"How so?"

"Well, if you overlook the slight engine problems of the Lightning and the fact that because of her dimensions the Lightning is not a close combat fighter, is the P-38 one hell of a fighter plane. Her capability of handling combat damages is nearly unrivalled besides the new Navy plane, the Vought F4U Corsair. She can carry a drop last of 1,8 tons (4.000 pound) and her armament with one MK and four MG´s is very effective in combat. Every new fighter who should peak those performances would be hard to develop and consume way to much time. Why  are you looking that way at me Sir?"

"You have proven yourself perfect for our situation here Mr. Ikari. The indicated performances are indeed hard to top, but we don´t plan to top each single one with our new Mustang model. We planed to enhance certain areas and we want the insight only experienced combat pilot have to decide in which order we should arrange the improvements."

To be continued 

This should be enough for an appetiser, don´t you agree. Regarding the feedback to that little story I will decide when or if I continue this scenario.

As usual keep please in mind that I´m German and as such my English knowledge is limited. 


	2. Stalking each other

**Meeting during Wartime (1943)**

The mostly positive reaction to my little project made me come to a decision. My main story "What could have happened!" will be on hold for an indefinite time-spare. "Meeting during Wartime" will have now top priority for the next months.

Besides Shinji / Asuka will be no other members of the EVA universe in this story, or so it is planed until now.

Chapter 1       -           Stalking each other 

Location: The offices of NAA 

Asuka and Jeffrey were working on the last bits of their report about the latest test flight when they noticed some commotion in the hangar. Looking trough a window down to the hangar they could see the cause. It was their COE Mr. Kindelberger who was moving along the assembly line with a guest, obviously showing him around and explaining certain things. While Asuka dismissed it as another politician sight seeing tour, Jeffrey looked a bit harder and noticed that the guest was wearing an Air Force uniform.

"Hey Asuka!" He called her attention. "Isn´t that the Lightning Pilot who came in with you, that Lieutenant Ikari?"

Turning back to the window Asuka took a closer look and saw that it was indeed said Lieutenant. 'What´s he doing here? Why is the COE giving him the VIP tour?'

"Looks like they are coming up to us Asuka." Jeffrey continued. "Is your report ready for a little inspection by our COE?"

Snapping out of her thoughts Asuka shook her head negative and raced back to her desk to finish her report. Six minutes later came a knock from their office door and after a 'Come in' from Jeffrey Mr. Kindelberger and Lieutenant Ikari came in.

"Miss Langley, Mr. Thomson may I introduce you to Lieutenant Shinji Ikari? He´s here from the Air Force to lend us a hand with our prototypes for the new D-Model."

"We already met Sir." Shinji said before either Asuka or Jeffrey could say something.

"Oh, that´s good. Than we can move right to the subject of your presence here with us. Miss Langley, I assume you have received my Memo?"

"Yes Mr. Kindelberger, the technicians are currently checking the prototype for damages from his today´s test flight. The machine should be ready tomorrow around 2 PM for a presentation."

'So she is indeed one of the test pilots for NAA.' Shinji thought, to Mr. Kindelberger he said, "A presentation wouldn´t be necessary Sir. I already saw the prototype in the air and the abilities of the A- and B-Model are well known to me. I think it would be more effective if we went right to the plans."

That interested Asuka. 'He has experience with the P-51A and B and is an active P-38 pilot? That´s interesting.' "And what was your impression of the abilities of the P-51?"

"The A was a good low level fighter, but that was it form my point of view. The model lacked the necessary power to combat the Messerschmidt 109 in higher flight levels."

"A fault which we erased with the Packard-Merlin in the B-Model." Jeffrey throw in the discussion.

"That´s correct Sir, it was a good decision to combine those two factors. What me irked was the very small cockpit and the small range of the Mustang combined with a short combat time. The A- and B-Models were unfit for long-range escort missions deep into enemy territory."

"Any ideas to remedy those disadvantages Mr. Ikari?" Asuka asked, her voice carrying a sharp undertone. She didn´t like someone badmouthing the Mustang. 

"Well … nothing definitely useably, just a few ideas that we discussed during out stay in England."

"Who do you mean with **we**?" Asuka interrupted him, Jeffrey who stood beside her cast a worried look in her direction. He knew quite well about Asukas little temper problem, unconsciously he took a small step away from her.

A dark shadow flashed through Shinjis eyes before he addressed Asuka "With **we** I mean all of us pilots who are fighting and dying in Europe while you little girl play´s with your toys!"

"Why you …"

"Lieutenant Ikari! Miss Langley! That´s enough! We are here to get our work done, not to insult each other!" Mr. Kindelberger interrupted the two before the situation could escalate further.

"But Mr. Kindel …"

"I said it´s enough Miss Langley! Lieutenant Ikari your insight as a combat pilot is important for us to make the Mustang better fitted for combat so that more of our pilots get the chance to return home alive and not in a damn coffin!"

"Sir, I beg your pardon for my insubordination. I was out of my line. What can I do to help you with your work?"

"Well, the question from Miss Langley hold some value. What are the possible solutions to the known problems of the Mustang?"

"All right, what I could see up to now is that you redesigned the cockpit section, which fixed the, from my point of view, main problem with the plane. The range of view from inside the cockpit."  
  
"As if the Lightning is so much better." Asuka muttered under her breath. Typical for her it was still loud enough to be heard quite well be the others.

"Let me ask you a question Miss Langley. What was the longest time you spent flying in the cockpit of a Mustang?"

"Something around one hour, why?"

"You will see, you will see Miss Langley. Mr. Kindelberger is it all right with you if I borrow the services of Miss Langley, a group of mechanics and one of the P-51´s from the flight line?"

"I don´t see a problem with that, but why if I may ask?"

"I want to show Miss Langley what it really means to fly a long range escort mission in a Mustang, if she thinks she´s good enough for it."  
  


"You bet I´m good enough for everything you could do."

"Very well Miss Langley. Wake up time is 5AM tomorrow morning. You have ¾ hour to wash up and eat your breakfast, after that we will talk ½ hour about our flight plan for the day. Take off time is not later than 7AM."  
  


"What?! That´s …"

"This is the normal schedule for a long range escort to a target in Germany for every normal escort squadron stationed in Europe and flying escort for the bombers of the 8th Air Force. It´s normal for us pilots since we deployed for the war in Europe. You have to become accustomed real fast to it. If not you will soon be to exhausted to fight and that will sooner or later lead to your death in combat."

"But … why?"

"You can only improve something when you know from experience. That´s all this is about, you have shown me earlier that you know how to handle your Mustang (at that little praise Asuka smirked a bit), but doing aerobatics and fighting to survive are two different pairs of shoes."

"OK, I´ll do it."

"Just one more thing Miss Langley. During our flight you will have to dogfight with me, after the mission we will check the gun cameras to see good you are."

"You are so going to get it tomorrow." Asuka murmured.

"Don´t be so confident Miss Langley, Lieutenant Ikari here has 15 kills on his account." Mr. Kindelberger said.

"What type of planes shoot you down Sir?" Jeffrey asked, curiosity evident in his voice. As a technician he was interested in the abilities of the P-38 against the Luftwaffe. 

"I have 9even kills for the Me109 (Me º Messerschmidt), five Ju88 (Ju º Junkers, Medium sized Bombers) and even one Fw190 (Fw º Focke – Wulf)."

"You creamed a 190 in that piece of junk of you?" Asuka asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

Not eve looking at Asuka, Shinji said "That piece of junk, as you so nicely put it, has saved my life more than once. The same goes for many other pilots. There are more P-38 returning with heavy combat damages than your oh so precious P-51. Even the P-47 can take more hits and sustain more heavy damage than the Mustang." Turning to face Mr. Kindelberger Shinji continued. "If you excuse me Sir, I would like to make some preparations for tomorrow."

Location: Home of Asuka Langley;      Time: 5AM next day 

A persistent banging noise at her main door rose Asuka from her slumber. Cursing the early hour Asuka climbed out of her bed and grabbing a robe she stumbled to the door to check who dared to visit her at such an early time. Looking through the peep hole of her door she saw the back of a US Air Force flight combo, finally Asuka remembered her little  + date +  with Lieutenant Ikari and she opened the door.

"Good morning Miss Langley. I hope you had enough sleep, ´cause you will need every bit of your strength for what I have planed today?"

"Yeah, yeah Lieutenant good morning to you too and no I´ve had not enough sleep tonight. So it would be nice if you could make it quick." Asuka snapped at Shinji.

"Don´t bite my head of Miss Langley. I just wanted to give you a quick wake up call and escort you back to NAA so we have enough time left."

Taking some deep breaths to calm her anger Asuka did her best not to lash out, vocal or physical. "OK Mister Ikari, I think I can live with that. Now would you please step aside so I can fresh up a bit so we can be on our way in no time."

"As you wish Miss Soryu Asuka Langley."

Asuka was on the move toward the bathroom, but that sentence made her stop in mid-step. "What did you say?"

"That´s your full name, isn´t it?"

"Yes, but how did you …"  
  


"Mr. Kindelberger was very supportive in my try to find out more about the people I have to work with the next weeks and months. If that´s a sensitive topic for you Miss Langley I won´t mention it again."

"I would appreciate that Mr. Ikari." Asuka said, her voice containing enough cold to freeze the Caribbean.

Picking up her anger laced voice and posture Shinji decided to try to smooth the waves a bit. "Miss Langley it seems we had a real bad start. If you agree I would like to make a new start. I´m Shinji Ikari Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and currently assigned as a liaison between the Air Force and NAA, and you are?"

Not surprisingly Asuka felt a bit overrun by the sudden development. 'Am I still sleeping? That Lieutenant makes more hard turns than a … well … pilot in combat. Oh boy Asuka! The work with that one will be really … interesting.'

"All right Mister, I would although like to start anew and for the record. Don´t call me Miss Langley, it makes me feel like an old maid."  
  


"Only if you do me the honour and call me Shinji. After all we will have to work together and I would like to work in a friendly atmosphere. Don´t you agree with me?"

"Agreed … Shinji. So what have you planed for us today?"

"No telling Asuka. You will only have the basics told like flight path, flight time and so on. As I said yesterday I wanted you to experience what it means for a combat pilot to fly a long range escort mission. Like every other pilot Europe you have to deal with nasty surprises."

"You enjoy leading me on, don´t you?" Asuka said, but now the accusing tone from earlier was gone. Instead of it her voice held now a bit of humour in it.

"Now, how could you come to that conclusion?" Shinji said.

To be continued.

To improve me writing please be so kind and leave me short review or send me a e-mail.  daniel79_de@yahoo.com & D-J79@gmx.de


	3. Nasty Surprises

**Meeting during Wartime (1943)**

This instalment of the story line we will see what Shinji has planed to do to our beloved Asuka ;-). Before I tell you to much about it let me just say that it will be quite entertaining. OK?

Chapter 2       -           Nasty Surprises 

Location: Flight lane of NAA; Time: 6:50AM

The mechanics of NAA had upon the request of their CEO Mr. Kindelberger prepped one of the ready to delivery P-51B´s for a long range escort flight, minus the live ammunition for the four 12,7mm machine guns in the wings. They just loaded the shooting camera so that the fire button would activate the camera to show the results for reference after the flight.

When Shinji & Asuka arrived at NAA they went right into Shinjis office which Mr. Kindelberger provided for him while he was here working with the NAA staff.

During the next minutes Shinji explained the route to Asuka as if their little trip was a real combat flight into the heart of Europe.

"We normally cross the channel and as soon as we reach their air space we have to fight with their first attack wave. Usually that first encounter is against one or two swarms (4 – 8 planes) of Me-109 and depending on your flight path and the bases in the area the used model varies. If you´re lucky you fly against on of the older F-Models of the 109, otherwise you have to fight against the newer G-Model which is at least on par with your Mustang. If that´s happening the better pilot will survive the encounter. When you´re a rookie fresh from the academy you better pray that you´re not forced to bail out, 'cause that will end your career immediately."

"Why do you tell me such bullshit? I can always try to get back to England with the _Resistance_."(the French underground force against Nazi Germany)

"That´s only an option when your enemy is one of the older generation. The younger German pilots are merciless and usually shoot the pilots who are hanging in their parachutes.  
  


That piece of information drained Asukas face of nearly all colour and left her as pale as a ghost.

"Sho … Shoot … th … th … them down? That´s …"

"That´s war Asuka. The Germans are fighting against overwhelming forces and they can´t afford to fight the old fashioned way. They are fighting with their back to a wall and like a trapped animal lashes out at whoever seems dangerous, the German fight every way they can imagine."

"How can you be so cold hearted Shinji. This isn´t fighting between true soldiers. That´s bloody murder!"

"That´s how it is Asuka and nether you nor I can change that fact. The only chance you have is to be better than your enemy or you will die as soon as you fly your first real combat mission."

It took a lot of willpower from Asuka not to lash out at Shinji.

AN: The following part will be a mental discussion inside Asukas head. Be aware of strangeness ahead ;-)

'That Idiot! How dares he to …'

'Calm down Asuka he´s the one who was in Europe not you.'

'But he´s so unnerving.'

'Have you ever thought about why he´s that way?'

'No, why should I waste my time with that?'

'Because death and war changes a person. Who knows perhaps he´s behind his could outer shell a really nice guy.'

'Yeah, get real. By the way, who am I talking with?'

'Silly girl, I´m you.'

'ME???'

'Yes, I´m the Asuka in your heart that you´re trying so hard to hide from others. The kind and compassionate Asuka who seeks the comfort and warmth which only another person can provide and I´m quite sure that such a person is sitting right in front of you.'

'What?!?! … There´s only that arrogant, stubborn and all wise combat pilot Shinji here!'

'Who do you think I´m talking about?'

'Get serious here. It´s more believable that Hitler becomes a pacifist overnight before I fall for that little boy.'

'Perhaps you haven´t noticed Asuka, but Shinji is well build and fills his uniform quite nice and just take a look at that tight ass of him which just seems to beg you to touch him and …'  
  


'Stop that at once! If you´re really me, why are you such a pervert?'

'Because I know what your body and your heart want Asuka. You´re longing to feel save and loved, to simply relax in the arms of a person you can trust.'

'Stop it! Please just stop torturing me. I´m alone. There´s no one for me to lean on. There´s no one I could trust besides myself.'

'Maybe you think so Asuka, but while we two are arguing that young pilot here is getting worried why you´re so quite. Time to return to the real world darling.'  
  


Confused about the sudden end of her mental argument Asuka was more than a little shocked when she felt gentle hands holding her shoulder. Startled she looked up, right into the concerned eyes of Shinji who was although looking a bit surprised.

'What´s wrong with that little wild cat? One moment she´s arguing my ears of and a second later she becomes as quite as a fish.'

'Perhaps she is just shocked from hearing what is really happening at the war in Europe.'

'Could be, but I think It´s there´s more than we can see on the surface.'

'Right, so we better keep an eye or two on her. For safety reasons of course.'  
  
'Ha, ha, remember my friend you´re a part of me and I know quite well what you´re thinking about.'

'What do you mean Shinji? I´m just trying to keep her safe.'

'Yeah, right! You better confess real fast before I …'

'OK, chill out. Jeez you´re no fun to tease. Just take a good look at that body in front of us. She´s HOT and I mean volcanic eruption HOT.'

'I got your point, there´s no need to get so graphic.'

'Graphic? Boy I´ve just started. That´s a killer body that we have here with us.'

'Now keep quite, will ya? We have more pressing matters to discuss here.'

'Yeah, like that pressing bulge in your pant my friend.'

'Shut up!!!' 

'Wow, did I hit a sore spot my friend? Just kidding, now go looking after your little red head before something bad happens.'

"Always wanting the last word bad ass. Someday I will get back at you, but you´re a part of me so I think I´ll drop the issue. Now keep finally quite will ya?!'

'OK master, I life to serve you master!'

'Smartass'

'You bet on it'

"Asuka I think we better hurry up a bit. We have not much time left."

"All right Shinji, let´s head to our birds and see who is the better pilot of us two."

Even if it was meant to tease him, Shinji clearly felt that Asuka was troubled by something. He also noticed the quick glances she was throwing in his direction from time to time. Shrugging mentally he decided to ask her later what was wrong. Now he had a mission to fly and to teach that little fire-head a lesson in real aerial combat situations.

15 minutes later; Airfield of NAA

The mechanics were closing the last control panels when Shinji and Asuka stepped out of the building, now clad in standard Air Force flight-combos. Both went immediately to their respective planes to check them a last time before the real fun would start.

Asuka went straight to Jeffrey who was making last minute tune ups at her left-wing ruder. 

"Morning Jeffrey, how does she look today?"

"Morning Asuka, she´s as fine as I could make her in the short time I´ve had. I shortened the ruder-cables a bit so that she respond a bit faster than the standard, just be careful not to overdue it."  
  


"Hey Jeffrey it´s me, Asuka Langley NAA´s top female test pilot."

"I know Asuka, but this is not a little test flight. As far as I understood the instructions from Lieutenant Ikari is that mission as real as he could make it without using live ammo."

"No live ammo? What is the payload than?"  
  


"We loaded some kind of new paint bullets which arrived this morning with an Air Force courier from the academy. It was ordered by your Lieutenant over there."

"What do you mean with MY Lieutenant?" Asukas tone changed from friendly chatter to ice age in mere seconds.

"Jeez Asuka, calm down! I wasn´t implying anything slippery, just that you two are working close as a team. Nothing more, really."

Asuka seemed to accept that explanation from him, but when she looked over to Shinjis P-38 _Lightning_ Jeffrey noticed a small shadow crossing in her eyes. 'Something must have happened between those two. I wonder …'

"Hey Asuka I have to talk about something with the Lieutenant, good luck for your flight my dear." Before Asuka now could say something more Jeffrey left her and walked toward the Lightning. 

"What´s going on here?" Asuka muttered under her breath before she climbed on the Wing of her Mustang to prepare the cockpit for the flight.

During Jeffrey´s and Asukas talk was Shinji making a quick tour around his baby to see if something was amiss. He stood currently under the starboard tail pylon and was checking the ruder connections there when Jeffrey stepped at his side and caught his attention with a question.

"Lieutenant, what is going on with you and Asuka?" Jeffrey asked Shinji coming straight to the point.

If it was anatomy possibly Shinjis jaw would have hit the ground. After a few moments of shocked silence Shinji regained enough control to make a respond.

"Wow, you don´t waste any time do you? What do you mean with 'going on' between Asuka and myself? We barely know each other and I wouldn´t do anything which would …"

"I´m not talking about that Lieutenant. Asuka lives to fly and the moments before a start are normally pure bliss for her, but today she looked depressed and I want to know what happened to cause such a reaction from her."

"Jeffrey I didn´t do anything besides briefing her for the flight and telling her about the real war in Europe. If that had made her sad I´m sorry, but I was just telling her the truth about the fight we pilots in Europe have to fight every day to survive. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I see Lieutenant, just don´t be to hard on Asuka. She had a tough time until she found her place and I see her as something like an adopted daughter, so I hate it to see her sad or in pain."

"I will Jeffrey, I promise. She´s a nice person and I would like it to call her a friend someday, but I can´t see that happen in a long time."

"Why do you think that?" Jeffrey asked, genuine surprise in his voice. 'What does he mean with that? Those two would look good together. What´s his problem?'

"Asuka is such a nice young woman. What would a beauty like her see in an ugly scared, blood tainted war pilot like me?"

'Is he really thinking that way about himself?' "Lieutenant … Shinji, how can you think so low of yourself? You seem like a good hearted person and you´re not ugly with that scared face. It just shows everyone that you were willing to risk your life so that the people in Europe could someday life in peace again."

"Thank you for your kind words Jeffrey, but it is like it is. A girl like Asuka should have the best and I´m tainted for live and I would never be good enough for her."  
  


"Give Asuka a bit more credit. She´s not someone who looks only at the appearance of a person. For her the inner self of a person is of greater importance. Just give it a try someday and I´m quite sure my little Asuka will surprise you." The last bit was said with a mischievous twinkle in Jeffrey´s eyes, witch didn´t went unnoticed by Shinji.

"Something not right here. Isn´t the father of the girl supposed to scare any men away from his daughter? You almost sounds like you would like to see us two together, what gives?"

"I just think that you two would be good for the other and as I said before I´m not her real father so I can play matchmaker as much as I like, ne?"

"Don´t let Asuka hear that. I don´t know her that well, but I´m sure she won´t like it if she would hear you trying to throw her on me." Shinjis sad mode was almost gone and he did begun to enjoy his little talk with Jeffrey.

"You may be right so I better quite and let you prepare your plane. Good luck Lieutenant."  
  


"Thanks Jeffrey. I´ll try not to push her to hard today." After that Shinji climbed the ladder up into the cockpit of his _Lightning_ and made his final checks for an interesting day. He just smiled at what he had planed for the fiery Miss Langley and how she would react at his little surprise for her.

TBC


End file.
